A battery issue is not the only reason why PHEV Escape is now going to land much later than expected.

A battery fire risk that has caused a New Zealand-promised plug-in hybrid flagship of the new Ford Escape to be temporarily pulled from production is not the only reason why it won’t be here in January, as planned.

Ford New Zealand managing director Simon Rutherford now picks a model promised in a base front-drive and a high-end four-wheel-drive will now arrive in late 2021.

Rutherford said although customers have shown interest in the highly-anticipated model, no orders or deposits had been taken.

He cannot say if the prices - $58,990 for the front-drive and $64,990 for the top spec – announced some months ago will still hold when the car finally arrives.

The car has made headlines recently for being pulled out of production due to risk its lithium ion batteries might catch fire. Yet Rutherford said Ford having prioritised production for Europe – where the fire issue was exposed – had already stymied the original release programme for NZ.

As is, Ford has four petrol Escapes, all powered by a common 2.0-litre engine, in the market, these comprising a $42,990 front-drive base model simply called Escape, a mid-grade ST-Line in front ($47,990) and all-wheel-drive ($50,990), and a ST Line X, at $55,990.

 Rutherford says while it’s disappointing not to have a plug-in hybrid model here, it was more important that the battery issue was rectified.

That situation became public in August, when Ford in Europe advised drivers that they should not charge their vehicles and drive them in the EV Auto mode due to danger of the battery cells catching fire, due to overheating. 

The make’s response to the problem, which arose with cars in Spain, where NZ-market Escapes in all formats are built, has been dramatic.

Production has stopped and 20,500 delivered vehicles have been recalled. Plans to build the car in the United States have also been postponed until next year.

Ford says the problem is not with the car’s design, but with the battery. This comes from the same supplier that is used by BMW, which has also just recalled its plug-in hybrid cars because of operability issues. Overseas reports have traced the issue back to one of the battery pack’s control modules.

What also hurts Ford is that the PHEV has been a big success.

The Escape plug-in, which badges as a Kuga in Europe, and a PHEV version of the Ford Puma that has also just launched in NZ (as a 1.0-litre petrol) have been strong sellers in Europe, where electric vehicles have risen so much in popularity that they historically outsold diesel cars for the first time in September

The 14.4kWh battery in question provides an electric-only driving range of more than 50km and claimed fuel consumption on the combined-cycle test is 1.5 litres per 100km.

The PHEVs are powered by a 2.5-litre four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle petrol engine paired with an electric motor and generator which draw power from the battery. Combined maximum power is rated at 167kW.

The petrol-pure editions are motivated by an updated version of the brand’s turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder ‘EcoBoost’ petrol engine, now good for 183kW/387Nm.

Drive is sent to either the front or all four wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.